HARD TIMES | S.STAN [ON HOLD]

03 | real life

iii. surprise

Nancy stood in the kitchen, covered in flour. She was helping her mother make pecan pie for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and had ended up making a mess.

"I should have asked Katherine to make the pie with me" her mother teased.

"Hey, I make the pie with you every year. Just because Katherine would make less mess doesn't mean she would have be better company" Nancy said, dusting the flour off of her jumper.

"That maybe true but you and my kitchen counters wouldn't be covered in flour" her mother laughed.

"Well I finished the pie crust" Nancy said.

"Thank you, go get cleaned up and you can help me with the pecan filling. If you can manage to not make a mess of that too" her mother called after Nancy as she walked off.

Nancy walked up the staircase of her childhood home, running her black painted nails along the cream wall paper. Her white socks pressed against the carpeted floors, as she walked across the landing.

She walked into her old bedroom, which had now transformed into a guest room. The blue walls were now cream, and Nancy's poster were being stored upstairs. The single bed was replaced with a king size bed, and an empty cupboard and vanity desk covered the empty walls.

Nancy pulled her bag closer to her, and unzipped it. Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a top and then walked out.

"Wow, I guess you're baking" Katie said, walking up the stairs.

"I am" Nancy smiled, looking down at her flour covered jumper.

"Well you better save me a slice" Katie said, before disappearing into the bathroom.

"No, I need the bathroom" Nancy sighed, as the door shut in front of her.

"I'll just get cleaned up in the guest room then" Nancy mumbled to herself, before walking across the landing.

She shut the door and threw her jumper onto the bed. She then put the clean top on, and moved over to the vanity. She pulled a black hair tie, from her wrist, and tied her hair up into a ponytail.

Leaving her door slightly ajar, she walked across the landing and down the stairs.

She saw her mom at the bottom of the staircase, and in front of her stood a familiar face. She smiled and walked down the rest of the stairs. He noticed her too, and a smile crept up onto his face. She was literally running when she reached the end of the staircase and threw her arms around the man.

"Sebastian!" She smiled, as he wrapped her arms around her.

"Easy tiger" he chuckled.

"You said you'd text me when you're in town" she pulled away, slapping his arm.

"I wanted to surprise you" he smiled.

"Well, you did" Nancy chuckled.

"Let me get you a drink, Sebastian" her mother smiled, before pulling the boy into the kitchen.

Nancy followed the two, holding back her laughter.

"I swear everytime I see you it's like seeing a new person" her mother said.

"You've grown up into such a wonderful man" her mother said, making Sebastian laugh.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rhodes" Sebastian replied, as though it was the first time Nancy's mother had told him that and not the billionth time.

"I see you're baking, can I help?" Sebastian asked, as Nancy's mother passed Sebastian a glass of orange juice.

"Of course, I'm sure you'll make less mess than Nancy" her mother said.

"Mom!" Nancy laughed.

Sebastian looked up at her, smiling as she laughed. And they both knew they were happy to see each other again in that moment.

AN; Sebastian and Nancy reunion, what do we think?